Posts Tagged ‘South Tel Aviv’

MK Michael Ben-Ari of the Otzma l’Yisrael party led a protest on Monday against the illegal Sudanese and Eritrean aliens living in southern Tel Aviv. Hundred of people participated in the rally.

Ben-Ari and Aryeh Eldad have made the expulsion of the illegal aliens a centerpiece of their political campaign.

The protest called, “Blowing up the Silence” was initiated after an Eritrean alien was caught brutally raping an 83 year old woman. The suspect, who was tied to the assault by his DNA, has reportedly has been arrested a number of time for other sexual assaults.

Young woman and her dog out shopping in the Florentin neighborhood in South Tel-Aviv.

The Florentine neighborhood in south Tel-Aviv was established years ago by the newcomers from Greece and Turkey. It was planned as a simple and pretty neighborhood, but it quickly sank into poverty and neglect.

Today the neighborhood attracts many foreign workers, legal and otherwise, as well as young students, all of whom like the low rents. The city has been investing in the neighborhood’s infrastructure and in education, but the neighborhood remains rundown.

Despite this, during the day it is a busy and vibrant place where people flock to buy furniture and fabrics, or visit the Levinsky Market.

Israeli immigration police arrest dozens of South Sudanese illegal immigrants in Eilat on Monday morning in a raid intended to curb the influx of unauthorized entrants from Africa.

At approximately 5:00 AM, immigration police raided a neighborhood which has become known as a way station for the hundreds of migrants who breach Israeli borders from the south. Police gave the individuals time to gather and pack their belongings before being deported. Eight South Sudanese migrants were arrest by the Immigration Authority on Sunday.

Last week, a Jerusalem court ruled that Israel could deport South Sudanese citizens back to their country.

The Knesset on Monday will dedicate special sessions to dealing with strong Israeli reactions to violence and theft brought on by the wave of Sudanese and Eritrean illegal immigrants, in particular in South Tel Aviv and the port city of Eilat. Discussions will include ways to deal with the various classifications of immigrants – including opportunists as well as asylum-seekers – as well as Israeli violence against the migrants sparked by public outrage at immigrant conduct.

On Sunday, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation supported a bill to punish Israelis who employ or migrants and Palestinians who are inside Israeli illegally.

Though it is difficult to estimate how many illegal immigrants from Africa are currently in Israel, Ministry of Interior estimates, as of April 2012, 59,858 Illegal immigrants who were never imprisoned in detention facilities have infiltrated into Israel. A fraction of those are entitled to refugee status, while Eritreans – comprising a whopping 34,000 of those – will not be deported due to the opinion of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that Eritrea has a difficult internal situation and a forced recruitment and that Eritrean immigrants should be defined as a “temporary humanitarian protection group”.

The general director of Peace Now, Yariv Oppenheier, has urged Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to open a criminal investigation into MKs Miri Regev (Likud), Danny Danon (Likud), and Michael Ben-Ari (National Union), for making speeches Wednesday in Tel Aviv he says incite racism and violence.

The speeches were made to approximately 1,000 protesters in South Tel Aviv’s Hatikva neighborhood, in response to a wave of illegal immigration and associated surge in crime in the area. While some illegal immigrants have made the trek to Israel from Sudan and Eritrea to escape persecution, others have taken advantage of Israel’s high level of humanitarian aid and labor opportunities.

In her speech, Regev made comments such as “the infiltrators are a cancer in our body”, and advocated their deportation from Israel. Twelve protesters were arrested during the event, which deteriorated into rioting.

According to local residents in south Tel Aviv, the streets have become unsafe, with women and the elderly afraid to walk outside. On May 15, 4 Eritrean men were charged with raping a 19 year old Israeli woman in a parking lot in the area, one of several such incidents which have reportedly occurred since the area become a haven for illegal African immigrants.

It was a hot day in June 1997, the first day of summer vacation for many high school students. The Tel Aviv beach was packed with people. It was a perfect day for Motti Ashkenazi.

Motti, a drug addict and petty thief, was the product of a poor South

Tel Aviv neighborhood, where crime was rife. He had been recently released from detention after a foiled attempt at trying to break into a car. He had begun thinking of trying to change his life, but did not find it easy. That day he was hoping to earn some money, which he desperately needed to feed his addiction.

As he walked along the beach area, he spied a black backpack on the ground. He waited in the distance for several minutes to be sure no one was coming to claim it. He then swiftly lifted it up and headed away from the beach, looking for a place where he could open the bag undisturbed.

He went to a small nearby street, perhaps prophetically named Rechov Geulah (the street of redemption). He entered a rundown building and quickly opened the backpack, hoping to find some money. What he found instead turned out to be far more valuable to him than money. Inside the bag he found a clock, connected with wires to a cookie tin. He had stolen a terrorist’s bomb.

After he overcame his initial shock at what he had found, he ran to a hotel in the area and asked someone to summon help. He returned to the building on Rechov Geulah and waited for the bomb squad to arrive, so he could show them exactly where the bomb was located.

While the men were trying to deactivate the bomb, Motti stood guard outside the building, trying to keep people safely away from the area. When he was satisfied that things were under control, he quickly left the scene. To his ultimate good fortune, he had been recognized by one of the police at the site. When he was found shortly afterwards, Motti lied, saying he had come across the backpack when he was inside the building. He later confessed to having stolen it from the beach.

The bomb was large, with about six and a half pounds of explosives. Together with the nails inside, it would have caused many casualties.

Overnight, Motti became a hero – but the story does not end there. In recognition of his selfless deed, the police erased all of his criminal files. They went a giant step further, sending Motti for drug rehabilitation and supporting him through the difficult process.

Motti was finally able to kick his drug habit, marry and have a baby. Five years later, almost to the day he found the backpack, Motti was offered a special job where he could put his former abilities to good use. He became a guard at the Tel Aviv beach.

This time, he was there to protect people’s belongings from theft.

Several years have passed, and now Motti is the father of four. He runs a towing service and has come a long way from that skinny, thirty-year- old drug addict on the beach.

Motti’s story is an important one for us to know. It gives us hope that the difficult times in our lives can be turned around – with the help of Hashem.